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Monday, April 06, 2015

The Rundown Slam: WrestleMania 31

4/4/2015 12:19:04 PM

Screengrab from YouTube


Like a holiday jingle, “it’s that wonderful time of the year” again, as the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) staged their annual entertainment spectacular event once again. And by the way, it comes with a play button.

WrestleMania 31 was a heck of a show at the Silicon Valley. Forget that it aired on a Sunday afternoon—with a sun-shinyyy day atmosphere. It may appeared scorching hot as shit right there, but you can never deny the event was hotter as it gets.

As much as I want to tackle the pre-show which featured 2 matches, I hadn’t watched them so I beg your pardon in advance and instead move on to the main program.


7-on-1
Kicking off WM31 was the ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, where everyone had their own fair share of moves. All of them came flying from either top rode or from the top of the ladder.

The sickest highlight move there was Luke Harper powerbombing Dean Ambrose to the ladder outside the canvas. And, oh… how about the series of bullhammers by Bad News Barrett and the finishing array of headbutts between Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler? Man, those were some of the proofs why this ladder match became brutally astonishing as shits!

My pick DZ did not win though I think DB’s victory solidified him as one of those three-type champs. Imagine this: he had a Tag-Team title once, as well as World heavyweight, WWE-World heavyweight, and now, the IC belt. And to think that for the second straight year, we actually have a YestleMania right there! DB ended WrestleMania 30 winning the biggest one, and just recently he also kicked off the Play Button with another YestleMania moment by owning that white-and-ivory thingamajig. Nicely done!

Verdict: 8.7

Clash of the Avenging Egos
Revenge was the main key for Randy Orton to snatch a victory over Seth Rollins. And, man, that RKO of a botched Curbstomp was a perfect way to send somebody to sleep. It’s like saying” Goodnight,” even if it’s a bright afternoon as shit!

I can conclude that Orton-Rollins feud will continue soon especially with the aftermath of WM’s main event. Besides, that game of counters is my pick for the Top Match of the Event.

Verdict: 9.2

Nostalgic Amidst Confusion
Anyway, moving on, I think this match came too soon. But nonetheless, it was an instant classic for some reasons as Triple H collided with Sting in a match where shades of the Monday Night Wars became evident.

Yes, as vintage as it gets with the nWo (New World Order) and DX (Degenration X) at the set. That apparently means what a Sunday Afternoon Heat was all about!

But Sting loses on his WWE debut? Moreover, on WrestleMania? Somehow, this could mean something good if the 55 year old Sting will compete soon.

But one thing that’s quite confusing in their duel was the compelling storyline? Sting aims for stopping HHH and his power-tripping antics; while on the other hand, Hunter’s angle is WCW vs. WWE – the premier story of the so-called Monday Night Wars: WWE Monday Night RAW vs. WCW Monday Nitro. Tough competition as it seems.

Much respect to these two for showcasing that R word at the end of the match though.

Verdict: 9.4

Catfight

Midway through the program, we had the Divas Tag Team match, a match that gave the Divas (at least) a chance.

Though if you ask me, I’d prefer a Divas Championship match itself. Yes, this is where Paighe and Nikki Bella should collide instead of WWE Fast Lane.

But anyway, as long as AJ Lee and Paige were there, as well as the Bella Twins, not a bad showing after all. And even if we can say Nikki and Brie had strong showing there, I think Paige and AJ deserve the W. And that’s what you get for unleashing cheap shot after cheap shot.

Verdict: 8.1

Patriot vs. Patriot
Okay, so we move on to the second half of the main show; and this time the United States Championship is on the line.

I’ll have to give Rusev the best entrance of WM31. Look at that, he looked like a patriot there despite being a heel coming into this match. As for Cena, there’s nothing really usual though “USA!” chants are siding him this time despite his typical scumbag-superhero character. It’s like people giving him love for this afternoon just because somebody’s winning run should come to an end, as well as the Bulgarian brute’s humiliation against the live WWE Universe which are pre-dominantly Americans.

Maybe, it took a Lana distraction to cost Rusev a match. Yes, this time it favored Cena when the Ravishing Russian’s antics fell off the mark. And there you go–the streak, and the championship reign–is over!

Now what? “JOHN CENA SUCKS” again?! Hopefully, this WWE’s top guy will have some kind of heel-ish side soon.

Verdict: 8.4

Battle of the Fearsome

With then comes a “passing the torch-slash-intimidation” match between the Faces of Fear: Bray Wyatt versus The Undertaker.

At the end, Taker still had it. And Bray might have a long way to go before he surpasses the Deadman. But man, you can’t deny how this game went on; especially the promos where everything goes for work in the former patriarch.

And Taker’s victory shows no matter if he did not showed up the entire year long, he can still beat everyone’s ass.

Though we hope he could retire for good considering his age. Oh, wait. Is he up for Sting next year?

The vultures and the typical entrance can’t even match a bit of The Walking Dead set-up though. The scenery appeared lighter than a coming dawn.

Verdict: 9.3

Switching the Future Switch ON
Meanwhile, here goes the championship match: Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns. I found series of flaws though: the delayed fireworks for Brock as he makes his way to the ring. As well as the social media-ish side – they should’ve displayed the hashtag intended for the WWE Title, something they’ve been doing in the previous pay-per-view offerings.

Anyway, the latter part of the match was good; as Lesnar was at his usual dominant self, throwing 10 suplexes, 5 F5s and a bunch of bitch-slaps. But Reigns picked his game to neutralized the beating in an instant. All went well…

…until somebody cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to set the stage into a triple threat match; and the rest, folks, is history!

Talk about sudden switches which went perfect on WrestleMania!

I think we have to commend these three performers. Reigns stood strong despite losing the match. Lesnar was at its usual best. And Rollins, though having a questionable plot flow between his loss earlier, showcased how opportunistic he is.

Still, a great main event to cap it all.

Verdict: 9.1

Overall, WrestleMania was a heck of an event, especially with surprises in between the matches. But it doesn’t get better than WrestleMania 30 though.

But of all segments, I’ll give my props to The Rock-Authority confrontation–with Ronda Rousey siding with the Great One!

Overall verdict: 8.85

Author: slickmaster | ©2015 september twenty-eight productions

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